We recently connected with Breuntonice Hickson and have shared our conversation below.
Breuntonice, thrilled to have you on the platform as I think our readers can really benefit from your insights and experiences. In particular, we’d love to hear about how you think about burnout, avoiding or overcoming burnout, etc.
Going through a burnout is something that hits close to heart for me. This past year, I went through one of the longest and most severe burnouts that I have ever experienced. At first, I thought I was going crazy and being ungrateful to myself and my business. But I had to force myself to remember that having and going through a burnout is normal and sometimes expectant. Once I remembered that, I started what I like to call my “recovery process”.
My “recovery process” consists of four steps: Acknowledgement, Break, Love, and Evolving. First, I recognized and acknowledged that I was going through a burnout and that it was okay and normal. After about a week, I decided it was time to step away and take a break. I didn’t really give myself a time limit for this break, just that I would let myself rest both mentally and physically. My break ended up lasting a good 9 months and after that I moved to the last two steps, Love and Evolving. I started to take a new approach in finding new things to learn and love about photography, as well as start some new projects.
After going through this burnout, I feel more motivated and ready to pursue my new projects, continue learning, and overall getting back to my photography.
Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?
I am Breuntonice (Bree) Hickson, owner of Perisianne Shannae’. Perisianne Shannae’ started as a custom design fashion brand while I was still in college. After graduating college, I added photography to my brand and now it has become the leading discipline of my brand. I specialize in lifestyle photography because I love capturing real-life milestones, which includes headshots, portraits, lifestyle, children, and themed photography.
This year I have some new projects and a couple of products that I plan to launch within the upcoming months. I can’t go into too much detail because I want to keep it quiet until they are ready. For sneak peaks, check out my website and social media.
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
Having a business is not an easy journey. There will be many ups and downs and the three qualities that helped me on my journey were patience, support, and adaptability. Having patience is one of the MOST important qualities you can have as a business owner because your patience will definitely be tried at every corner. The second quality you will need is support. Having a good support system backing you will make a world of difference on your journey. My support system has seen me through the bad times, where I cried and thought about giving up, but they also saw me through the good times, where I overcame those obstacles and extended my business. The last and most difficult is adaptability. Being adaptable to me is a necessary requirement as a business owner. There will be obstacles that are thrown at you left and right, but you have to approach each one with multiple solutions.
The best advice I ever received and love you give is to “Keep Going!” Whenever you feel like giving up, DON’T, because your blessing is on the other side of that feeling.
Do you think it’s better to go all in on our strengths or to try to be more well-rounded by investing effort on improving areas you aren’t as strong in?
Definitely more well-rounded. I feel like being more well-rounded allows you to develop different aspects and interests in both your personal and professional life. In today’s society where everything is constantly changing and evolving, being well-rounded is crucial especially as a business owner. Using myself as an example, growing up I always put being a lawyer to the forefront because I thought that was my greatest strength but my artistic side was always in the back of my mind. So when I got the opportunity to invest more into my art, I found a new strength in fashion. While going through the fashion program in college, I dabbled in a couple of different art forms which includes photography. If I didn’t continue to want to learn more about the different art forms, then I would not be as well-rounded as I am today.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.perisianneshannae.com
- Instagram: @perisianne_shannae
- Facebook: @Perisianne Shannae’
Image Credits
Perisianne Shannae’ Photography, Dolfos_fotos
